


You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave

by babyitsbeautiful



Series: Gendrya Song Fics [1]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Halloween, One Shot, based on a tumblr prompt, creepy back roads, gargoyle statues, hotel california by the eagles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 04:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21191888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyitsbeautiful/pseuds/babyitsbeautiful
Summary: Based on a tumblr prompt from @fandomjuxtaposition





	You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave

**Author's Note:**

> Creepy driveways and gargoyle statues make for an interesting story, but one I'd never want to discover probably. Enjoy.

Gendry pulls down the visor mirror in Arya’s convertible for the umpteenth time since they got on the road. She did his makeup for Sansa’s Halloween party, some dark eyeliner to go with his pirate costume he’ll change it to once they get there, as will Arya. His hair is slicked back only slightly, not much difference from the usual way he wears it and he has on his long black peacoat. He thinks he looks ridiculous but by the way Arya jumped his bones before they left, makes him think this might not be a bad look on him after all.

Arya smacks his hand once his fingers go up to his eye, “Stop touching it, you’ll mess it up before we get there.”

He sighs heavily and closes the mirror dramatically, “And where is there exactly? You’ve never even been to your sister’s new house yet, are you sure you’re even going the right way?”

Arya keeps her eyes on the road, hair blowing subtly in the wind since the top is down and the breeze is a comfortable degree on this October night.

Fog begins to appear as she turns down a barely paved road, a small one that looks to be a hundred years old, “No, this can’t be right, where the hell are, we Arya?”

Arya continues down the highlighted path from the GPS on her dash, “I’m just going where it’s telling me to!”

He takes a minute to appreciate her and how gorgeous she is, her dark hair is down, bangs highlighting the curve of her face, she has on a long-sleeved dress that goes down to her ankles, part of her pirate costume she chose for the party.

“This road is creepy as fuck and I sincerely hope your sister and her wife did not decide to live in a neighborhood originating during the witch trials.”

She laughs at him as she weaves the car easily through the curves in the fog, “You’re an idiot.”

Before Gendry can properly respond, the fog in front of the car begins to thicken immensely and suddenly he realizes that its not fog, but smoke coming from underneath the hood.

“Shit!” Arya exclaims as the car starts making unsettling noises. She pulls off to the side of the road, stopping just beside what looks to be an abandoned driveway with a chain across it accompanied by a posted no trespassing sign.

Gendry and Arya both get out of the car as the smoke billows through the darken night sky, “I guess we call a tow truck maybe? I’ll just tell them to take it to the nearest shop to Sansa’s and she can pick us up from there.”

Arya holds her phone in the air for a moment before dropping it in defeat, “I don’t have any service.”

He looks down at his phone to see the same and tells Arya as much.

“Where the fuck are we anyway? I wouldn’t even know what to tell the driver. Like hey pick us up from the middle of bum fuck nowhere next to the…” His sentence dies in his throat as he examines the thought his brain landed on, “Are those _gargoyle_ statues?”

Arya follows his eyes as he walks toward the brush covered statue, “How fucking cool is that?”

Gendry scoffs at his girlfriend, not amused whatsoever, “I hope you mean creepy.”

She rolls her eyes at him in typical Arya fashion and he smiles endearingly at her. Still standing there without a clue of where to go from there, a bolt of lightning causes them to jump as distant thunder rolls between the clouds above. 

“We should get the top up before it starts raining.” Gendry helps her work the top to her car and once they’re successful in the task, he follows her gaze through the trees.

“I see a light not too far down, maybe they have a working phone.” Arya starts to step over the chain but Gendry’s hand on her arm stops her, “Maybe that’s not a good idea, love. It does say no trespassing.”

Arya smirks at her boyfriend, “Are you _scared_?”

Another flash of lightning illuminates the gargoyle statue, making it appear as if the inanimate object is staring straight into his soul.

Scared? Nah. Terrified? Fuck yes.

Arya grabs his arm to pull him along, much to Gendry’s dismay, “Come on, I’ll protect you.”

He crosses over the fence and begins the trail over the grown over driveway, taking a last look back at the car parked in between the statues.

He keeps his hand held firmly in Arya’s as the thunder begins to grow louder and the shimmering light she saw begins to grow brighter.

She leans her body on his as they walk, resting her head on his upper arm. The wind picks up making him shiver, for reasons more than just the now cold foggy air. Up ahead appears a large house out of nowhere. It’s definitely old and picturesque with more statues like the ones behind them.

His mind is spinning as to what this place holds as the smell of something cooking invades his nostrils. The time they spend here looking for help for Arya’s car can either go two ways, it could be heaven, a small stop on their path in bliss, or it could be complete and utter hell. The closer they get; he decides it’s going to be the latter.

The reach the end of the grassy path to find the light burning on the porch of the old house. There are not any cars on the side they’re on as they walk up to the front door. Arya knocks loudly twice before an old man answers, wearing a tuxedo. The butler perhaps.

“Can I be of assistance?” He says in a hoarse voice. His skin is so pale Gendry wonders how he’s even still alive.

Gendry stays quiet while Arya explains their situation to the stranger and once she’s finished, they’re led inside the bed and breakfast.

They follow the old man through the foyer, past the receptionist desk that’s empty and on to the bar. He notices mirrors on the ceiling, and dim lighting all throughout the place, giving him the eeriest of feelings.

He’s now determined to spend as little time here as necessary, ready to get Arya and himself back to safety. But mostly Arya, for some reason he can’t explain, he’s on alert more than ever and needs to protect her at all costs of what this place is really about.

They sit down at the bar, a thin layer of dust coating it.

“Do you not get the worst vibes about this place?” He says to her as she shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly.

Before they can ask anyone else for help, because no one else is around, save for the quiet voices down the corridor, a red headed woman appears before them.

“Hello. My name is Melisandre and I am the owner. What brings you here to us this evening?”

Arya once again tells their tale and then asks Melisandre if they can use her phone to call a tow truck, “I’m sorry dear, our phone line has been down all day due to a power outage from the storm last night.”

Well how fucking convenient.

Arya sighs and looks to Gendry, a silent plea in her eyes of what they should do next. He opens his mouth to tell her he’s getting her out of here and as far away as possible when he’s interrupted by the red woman joining them, “Please, stay here for the night. I’ll check you in at no charge and I’ll personally make sure your car is taken care of first thing in the morning.”

Before he can object, Arya agrees in defeat, “Great, I’ll find you a room. Excuse me.”

Melisandre gives him a long hard look before she exits the room, leaving them alone. Arya watches her leave and then looks back at her boyfriend, “Okay, the only creepy thing about this place is the way she looks at you. Like you’re her next meal or something.”

“Really, Ar? That’s the only thing giving you the creeps right now?” He sighs and continues, “I don’t think we should stay here tonight; we can just keep walking up the road we were on until we find phone service.”

The butler appears once more and hands Gendry a gold room key, a very _old_ room key, “You’re all checked in, can I pour you a drink?”

He looks back at Arya as she shrugs and then asks for a glass of wine, to which the butler informs her that they haven’t had that bottle in nearly half a century. This place just gets weirder by the second.

Arya then decides it’s best if they just find their room and turn in, to which Gendry follows suit. Because he’ll follow her anywhere, including a fucking creepy hell house he honestly believes they’re going to die in tonight.

They walk along the dusty halls, the voices appearing louder and yet they have not seen another living soul save for the butler and the owner who he thinks definitely has a sex slave in her dungeon in the basement. That jab earns him a loud laugh from Arya and the tension in his body relaxes ever so slightly.

“Seriously, isn’t weird we keep hearing chatter, and yet no one else is around?” Arya’s face distorts into something he can only assume is the beginning of not only recognition that he may be onto something about this place but fear as well.

They pass by an open door on their way to their room, the butler is wearing an apron with crimson liquid adorning it, while sharping knives. _Please, oh please, be chopping meat and not a human body_, he thinks to himself. 

They stop just before the door to get an unsuspecting look inside, the butler appearing to be cutting up some kind of large dead animal. He looks at Arya pointedly, “Yeah, let’s get the hell out of here.” He grabs her hand quickly, not needing to be told twice.

They turn around only to come face to face with Melisandre, “Leaving so soon?”

Gendry feels a shiver run down his spine and by the way Arya’s hand tenses in his, he knows she feels it too. “Yeah, we just didn’t want to be a bother to you or any of the other guests, sounds like you’re booked solid.”

“Nonsense, child. It’s better to stay here rather than in the cold, for the night is dark and full of terrors.”

Yes, he’s definitely getting him and Arya the fuck out of here. Arya squares her shoulders back and stand up a little straighter, “You can’t force us to stay here, you know?”

Melisandre gives her a wicked smile and damn when did it get so bloody cold in here, “We are all just prisoners, dear. Of our own device.”

Melisandre looks past them to her half dead sidekick and waves him forward, “Can you please check out our guests here. Thank you.”

Arya stands closer to his side as the old man walks past them and to the front desk as they follow.

The chill in the air grows colder as does the smell of death surrounding them. Arya leans into his side to speak only to him as they walk down the hallway, “You were right, we never should have come here. I’m getting all those creepy vibes you were talking about.”

He says nothing, only tightens his hold around her before kissing her temple, a small layer of sweat dripping down the back of his neck despite the cold.

The butler stops them at the desk, “Relax. You can check out at any time, but you can never leave.”

Gendry looks at him and then down to Arya, eyebrows scrunched in confusion, he looks back to the front door they came through, but it’s suddenly gone. He whips his head around to see every door and window gone, replaced only with dust covered picture frames aligning the hundred-year-old wallpaper. He grabs Arya’s hand and practically drags her down the hall looking for a way out, any way out for her. If he can’t leave, so be it, but he’d be damned if he sentences the woman, he loves to the same hellful fate. 

They stop at the end, Arya stepping beside him to look down the blackened hall as he screams out in pain watching her disappear into the nothingness, “Arya!”

He runs into the nothing, eager to feel her grasp his hand, only to have his arm feel like it’s going to shake off him.

“Gendry? Gendry!” His eyes open wide to see Arya leaning over him from where he sits in the passenger seat of her car.

“Are you okay? I went to take a picture of the gargoyle statue after you dozed off and you just started screaming out of nowhere.”

He looks around, eyes adjusting to his surroundings. The hood of Arya’s car still blows out smoke, but she’s there with him and she’s safe. He sighs and relaxes into his seat, “Yeah, I must’ve had a bad dream or something.”

She leans into the open passenger side door, “The tow truck guy said he’d be here in fifteen minutes and it’s been almost an hour. I saw a light just down there, why don’t we…” Her eyes widen at his sudden movements, jumping up and screaming ‘no’ a bit more dramatic than he intended too.

“What the fuck, Gendry?” He no doubt scared her, but he doesn’t care, that dream was too vivid, felt too real, for him to ever allow her to go explore the same place his dream state led them too.

“Sorry. I just...” She waits for his explanation as a growing pair of headlights blinds them into submission.

The tow truck driver steps out and apologizes for being late before he begins to hook her car up to the flatbed of his truck.

Arya rolls her eyes at Gendry’s outburst as she shows him the picture of the gargoyle on his phone and tells him how cool they are. He stays quiet, only humming in minor agreement.

Now he knows for certainty, that if they ever come back to Sansa’s, they’re travelling a new path entirely and staying far away from this road, nor are they ever staying at a bed and breakfast ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> I also have one other halloween one shot I'm doing as well.


End file.
